Life is happening. Look around you. You are in its midst, and perhaps are letting it pass you by. Or maybe you’re not, you might be cherishing every moment and looking around your daily grind in great wonder — I hope you are, for this is how we all should live.
I spent some time yesterday reminiscing through my old travel scrapbooks from 2003 [note: I have already warned you all of my dorky tendencies, and yes, I love scrapbooking. I make no excuses.]. I found some old photographs from when I backpacked Europe with my best friend Melissa. Our trips to France, Spain, Belgium, Monaco, and Switzerland transformed me; they completely changed both me and my perspective on life. I experienced life for the first time, but sadly, I remember still being consumed by food and my binge eating disorder during this time. Looking back at these particular pictures from Switzerland, and being able to recall the crossroads frame of mind that I was battling, makes me realize just how much life I was missing out on. In 2003, I would have never connected the phrase “beautiful body” to my own, for I hated my body too much. The sad truth is that now, looking back at those pictures, I was beautiful and I did have a beautiful body.
It’s time that we be less harsh on ourselves. You may not think that you have a beautiful body right now, but I promise you do. Do not be like me, looking back eight years later and realizing that everything I had told myself before was a lie. I find great joy now in reconciling the truth in those photographs — I now only see joy, beauty, adventure, and inspiration in this pictures. The beauty of Switzerland seems fresh and like it was just yesterday, for once you realize that you are living life a life oozing with beauty, you start to see the greatness of the experiences you have had. Tell your mind the truths that you deserve to believe, and start living to the fullest in the beautiful body that you have been given.